Raoul Thomas is having a rough year.
After losing two of his marquee hotels to lenders and facing an auction of a Miami Beach hotel, Thomas now could also forfeit a Coral Gables office building due to financial woes.
Lender Cerberus Capital Management filed a Uniform Commercial Code foreclosure against Thomas’ Coconut Grove-based CGI Merchant Group tied to a $48.7 million loan on the 15-story 550 Biltmore Way building, according to a public notice filed last month and records. The auction is scheduled for Dec. 19.
Thomas’ troubles come amid elevated interest rates and skyrocketing insurance that have put pressure on investors across South Florida.
Thomas has remained steadfast in trying to claw out from the financial hole. In a July interview, he told The Real Deal that he’s been working to recapitalize his loans and secure equity partners, as well as take back title to the hotels he lost in foreclosure.
For the Coral Gables office building, “CGI is working with all parties for a mutually positive resolution,” a company representative said in a statement.
CGI Merchant paid $54.4 million in 2019 for the Coral Gables office building, borrowing $46.5 million from MSD Partners, according to records. (The lender now is called BDT & MSD Partners after a merger of BDT & Company and MSD Partners last year.) New York-based Cerberus refinanced the loan in 2021, bumping it to $48.7 million, records show.
The building is 90 percent occupied, a source familiar with the property said.
But it’s slated to lose UBS as a tenant, after the Swiss bank leased space at a Coral Gables project under construction at 4225 and 4311 Ponce de Leon Boulevard. The bank will move its wealth advisory office once the development is completed in the third quarter of next year.
In August, CGI Merchant was dealt a double whammy.
BDT & MSD Partners took control of the historic 263-key Waldorf Astoria Washington DC in the old Post Office building after failing to recapitalize a defaulted $285 million loan. CGI Merchant bought the leasing rights for the building from the Trump Organization for $375 million in 2021. The property used to be the Trump International Hotel.
The financial issues partly were due to the $35.4 million transfer tax the District of Columbia levied on the deal, Thomas has said. That was more than the $9 million maximum the firm had anticipated, eating up reserves.
Also in August, lender Madison Realty Capital took over the 129-key Gabriel Miami Downtown hotel at the Marquis condo tower at 1100 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami. CGI had reportedly paid $37.5 million for the property in 2013. Madison had refinanced a $60 million loan in 2021, boosting it to $60.4 million, records show.
The UCC auction for CGI’s 132-key Gabriel South Beach at 620-650 Ocean Drive in Miami Beach has been postponed several times. Generally, that’s indicative that the lender and borrower are working on a resolution and the owner may be able to recapitalize or secure equity investors.
CGI Merchant had paid $108.6 million for the property in 2021, taking out a $71.1 million loan from Deutsche Bank, according to records.
That auction is now scheduled for Dec. 18, sources families with the matter said.
CGI Merchant, founded by Thomas in 2006, counts professional athletes among its investors, such as retired Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez and boxer Floyd Mayweather, as well as wealthy Canadian families. Its other assets include commercial space at offices in Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, Wellington and Stuart, where CGI’s Nexus Workspaces has co-working spaces. In 2020, it started a $650 million hospitality fund, in which Rodriguez is a main investor. CGI purchased its hotels through that fund.